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World Responsible Tourism award winners

We’ve been crowned winners of the WTM World Responsible Tourism awards for our Wildlife. Not Entertainers global campaign to end wildlife used for cruel tourist entertainment.

The award was presented by BBC presenter, Tanya Beckett at a global travel event in London.

Our Wildlife. Not Entertainers campaign launched in 2015 to protect wild animals including elephants, tigers and dolphins from cruel forms o entertainment and encourage tourists to see wild animals in the wild or true sanctuaries.

Giving wild animals a voice

Nick Stewart, Head of Wildlife Not Entertainers at World Animal Protection says:

“We’re delighted to win this award. Our campaign gives a voice to the 550,000 wild animals that are currently in captivity and being abused for the sake of so-called tourist entertainment.

“Our work is being recognised - we have witnessed a ripple effect of travel companies pulling out of elephant riding, helping us engage with elephant camps to transition their business to become elephant-friendly (observation only). This shift is essential to drive real change to protect wild animals.”

Appalling cruelty

More than 550,000 captive wild animals worldwide, including elephants, sloths, tigers and dolphins endure appalling cruelty for tourist entertainment. For most wild animals, the cruelty involves being snatched from the wild; ‘trained’ with beatings, living in severely inadequate conditions, being chained and isolated.

There are also health and safety risks - In Thailand alone,17 fatalities and 21 serious injuries were reported in venues with captive elephants in Thailand between 2010 and 2016.

Join the movement

There is a growing movement demanding wild animals are no longer used in entertainment. Over 1.6 million people and over 200 tour companies have signed our animal friendly travel pledge, and many travel companies are committing to stop selling or promoting venues that offer elephant rides and shows. This signals there is a demand to phase out cruel wildlife attractions, like elephant riding, dolphinariums, and tiger selfies.